In a contest where Florida's strength was South Carolina’s weakness, the Gators took advantage.
The Gamecocks entered Tuesday’s contest last in the Southeastern Conference with a minus-2.8 rebound margin, while the Gators led the nation with a plus-14.6 margin on the glass.
As a result, UF outrebounded USC by 17, finished plus-16 in paint points and had a 27-15 advantage in second-chance points.
Moreover, frontcourt pieces Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh led the Gators in scoring, combining for 45 of the Gators’ points.
Fueled by the efforts of its frontcourt, No. 12 Florida (20-6, 11-2 SEC) prevailed 76-62 over South Carolina (11-15, 2-11 SEC). The Gators extended their win streak to six games and four straight against the Gamecocks.
“Having these guys in our program makes me feel really good on a daily basis,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “Their consistency, their unselfishness, their toughness, and belief, it's allowed us to grow into one of the best programs in America while they've been here.”
Condon was at the forefront of Florida’s dominance. He finished the game with a team-leading 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds en route to his seventh double-double of the season and his second straight.
By the break, he logged eight points, three rebounds and three assists. His slam dunk from a Boogie Fland alley-oop gave UF a 20-10 advantage with 10:45 before halftime.
The Aussie recorded his 1,000th career point off a layup with 17:27 left in the second half, making him the 58th Gator to reach this milestone.
“It was definitely cool,” Condon said. “It was cool to get that recognition a little bit, but I think it’s really important we just stay focused on the main goal this year, running it back.”
He also caught a lob from Xaivian Lee following a Chinyelu steal to give the Gators a 71-49 advantage with 5:49 to go. He finished the second half with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds.
Behind Condon was fellow junior big man Chinyelu, with 15 points and a team-high 17 rebounds, recording his 16th double-double of the season, tying Al Horford (2006-07) for second most in a single season by a Gator.
At the break, the junior had 11 points and 13 rebounds. His last field goal of the first half was a put-back slam dunk from an Urban Klavžar 3-pointer, putting the Gators up 10 points with 1:39 before the half. In the second half, he was limited to four points on 1-of-3 shooting.
Haugh, the final piece to Florida’s starting frontcourt, logged 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
After hitting a 3-pointer with 15:31 to go before the break, the junior forward was scoreless for the remainder of the first half. However, after the break, he provided seven points for the Gators, including two 3-pointers. The second of which put the Gators ahead 66-49 with 7:23 left in the contest
Florida’s backcourt, however, was unable to feed off its recent success.
Reigning SEC Player of the Week Xaivian Lee was limited to 9 points, going 1 for 4 from beyond the arc. He proved his value when it came to making plays for his teammates, though, logging a team-high five assists.
Klavžar, who came into the contest reaching double-digit points in six of his last seven outings, finished the game with 5 points on 2-of-5 shooting. His sole 3-pointer on four attempts gave the Gators an eight-point lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Defensively for Florida, South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson was a problem for the Gators throughout the game.
At the half, he recorded 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including an and-1 to start the game. He finished the contest with a team-leading 22 points, going 9 for 9 from the charity stripe.
Aside from Johnson’s scoring outputs, Florida's defense continued its recent dominance.
At the break, the Gamecocks were limited to 11-of-31 (36%) shooting from the field. Moreover, starter Myles Stute was held scoreless by the end of the first half.
USC finished the contest going 38% from the field and 21% from 3-point range. Moreover, EJ Walker, who reached the foul limit, finished the contest with 1 point on 0-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes of action.
“Our guys have done a really good job of understanding that we have incredible defensive talent, physicality, and when we pour into that, it makes the rest of the game easier,” Golden said, “and I thought we did really good job of that tonight.”
Florida's frontcourt will look to fuel the Gators and extend their win streak to seven games on Saturday at noon against Ole Miss (11-14, 3-9 SEC) in Oxford, Mississippi.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
